Osian: the championship’s a slightly longer shot now…

Welsh rally star Osian Pryce suffered a setback in his pursuit of world rallying glory in Spain today.

Osian and his co-driver Dale Furniss led the field early on mastering torrential rain and some shockingly difficult conditions. Unfortunately for the Welshmen, they were hit by a misfire aboard their Ford Fiesta R2 on the day’s longest stage.

The problem couldn’t have come at a worse time, with the regulations for the rally not permitting any technical assistance from the M-Sport team running the cars in the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy. That forced Osian to drive the whole afternoon with a car significantly down on power compared with his DDFT rivals.

Osian and Dale retired from the final stage at the cost of a 10-minute time penalty. The team will now work on the problem tonight in an effort to trace the misfire.

Coming to Spain off the back of a superb season featuring two wins, a second and a sixth place (following a sublime Rally Finland run) from four rounds meant Osian enjoyed a 14-point lead in DDFT. To retain that place at the top of the table, the Machynlleth driver will have to demonstrate more of that prodigious pace on this weekend’s asphalt stages.

Osian said: “I’m gutted about today. There’s no way around it, no other way of putting it, I’m just so, so disappointed. We were quickest on the first stage this morning, leading and – at that point – looking at an extra three World Rally Championship drives next season. Then disaster.

“We were going up the hill in the Terra Alta stage and I thought I felt the car miss. My worst fears were confirmed a couple of corners later when the misfire really started. We pulled over and got under the bonnet to see if we could fix it, but there was nothing we could do.

“If there had been a main service in the middle of the day, the team could have worked on the car for this afternoon, but we were only allowed to fit new tyres at lunchtime – no mechanical work at all. The afternoon was pretty painful, but that’s the way it is.

“This is a mechanical sport and these things can happen sometimes. There’s no point dwelling on what’s happened, Dale and I are already looking forward to the weekend. We’ve got some fantastic stages coming up in the next two days and we’re going out there to attack them and see what we can do.

“Our only hope for the championship now is to get on the front foot and push like hell. So that’s what we’re going to do. It’s pretty much impossible for us to win the event and take the prize drives from here, but there’s still hope in the championship and that’s what we’re focusing on. We want that title.”

Osian and Dale will contest five rounds of the World Rally Championship in the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy. Here’s the details and an Osian download on the big five.

Been and gone…

Rally Portugal

May 19-22

Based: Matosinhos

Surface: gravel

Osian outings: 2 (2015, retired – mechanical; 2016 1stin DDFT)

Result: 1st

Stage wins: 4

Stages led: 1

Osian and Dale took a sensible approach to the first half of the Porto-based opener, but still remained in the top three throughout the event. Moved to the front on the final day and took the win by almost two minutes.

Rally Poland

June 30-July 3

Based: Mikolajki

Surface: gravel

Osian outings: 2 (2015, 2ndJunior WRC; 2016 2ndin DDFT)

Result: 2nd

Stage wins: 8

Stages led: 4

Rarely has second place been celebrated in quite such a fashion. Osian’s result secured him the first major victory of the World Rally Championship season so far. Leading the points race after the first two DDFT rounds, Osian and Dale are now confirmed as factory DMACK drivers for two WRC events in a Ford Fiesta R5 next season.

Rally Finland

July 28-31

Based: Jyväskylä

Surface: gravel

Osian outings: 1

Result: 6th

Stage wins: 8

Stages led: 5

Osian and Dale showed the Finns the way home in Finland last time out. Quickest DDFT runners on days one and three, only a Saturday morning shunt spoiled the Welshmen’s dream debut on the world’s fastest rally.

Rally Germany

August 18-21

Based: Trier

Surface: asphalt

Osian outings: 1

Result: 1st

Stage wins: 5

Stages led: 15

It doesn’t get much better than this: Osian and Dale lead from start to finish in a supremely quick and perfectly controlled victory on their Rally Germany debut.

Happening now…

Rally of Spain

October 13-16

Based: Salou

Surface: gravel/asphalt

Osian outings: 0

Osian says: “Two rallies in one when we get to the final event in Catalunya. The first day is on the gravel, which looks to be fairly similar in places to Portugal, but then it’s a weekend on the asphalt. The Tarmac stages are all really nice and now some of the most famous in the world. Generally, they’re double-width roads which flow quite nicely and allow you to carry good speed.

“Like the four events before Spain, I can’t wait to get there and try them out for myself!”

About the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy

The brainchild of M-Sport World Rally Team principal Malcolm Wilson and DMACK managing director Dick Cormack, the DDFT takes the best young drivers from around the world and pitches them into a five-round fight for the biggest prize south of the World Rally Championship itself.

There’s a season in a Ford Fiesta R5 car at rallying’s second tier – WRC2 – on offer to the winner after five rounds. The structure of DDFT has changed slightly this season, with rallies being paired (Portugal and Poland; Poland and Finland; Germany and Spain) and the crew gathering the most points from each of those two rallies will win two rallies in the R5 car next season.

Winning a full WRC2 season of 2017 competition in an M-Sport Fiesta R5 will require consistent speed from Osian and Dale this year.

Media contact:

Sandra Evans

+44 7887 693993

sandra@wordspr.com

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I’m gutted about today. There’s no way around it, no other way of putting it, I’m just so, so disappointed. We were quickest on the first stage this morning, leading and – at that point – looking at an extra three World Rally Championship drives next season. Then disaster.